Terrorists Might Use Sea Routes to Infiltrate into India, Warns Indian PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday directed the country's security forces to be more vigil about manning the coastal areas warning that terrorists are looking to sneak into the country through sea routes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday directed the country's security forces to be more vigil while manning the coastal areas warning that terrorists can sneak into the country through sea routes. He also noted that the infiltration bid across the Line of Control has gone up lately.

"There are also indications about terrorist groups maintaining their ability to use the sea route. Vigilance, therefore, needs to be exercised not only on our land borders but along the coast line as well," said the Prime Minister.

"The comprehensive scheme of Maritime Domain Awareness to be led by the Navy would help strengthen coastal vigilance, whereas deployment of more permanent border obstacles and better sensors could improve the situation along the land borders," Manmohan Singh briefed to the officials.

He said that the efforts of the police forces in curbing the extremists have borne fruit with a considerable decline in terror-related activates.

"The collaborative efforts of Police and Security Forces have led to a significant decline in the number of operating terrorists as also in terrorist violence in the State of the Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said. "Improvement in the security environment resulted in a successful Amarnath Yatra this year and in a record number of tourists visiting the state. The State has also successfully conducted the Panchayat elections and is now poised to take up the responsibility of conducting elections to the Urban Local Bodies."

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also pointed out the failures on the part of the police personnel in preventing the terror operations. "But the threat from terrorism in the hinterland continues to be a cause for worry. Although 19 interdictions have taken place, terrorists were able to strike in Mumbai and Delhi last year and in Pune this year." Singh said. "Investigations in these cases are yet to conclude."

Manmohan Singh admitted that the government is not proactive in dealing with the terror menace. "We are still in the process of developing capabilities to take pre-emptive action in respect of terrorist threats," he said.